NJ adds 8,200 jobs in June

* Despite the gain of 8,200 in June, the addition since January is below last year's six-month total

New Jersey's addition of 8,200 jobs in June boosted the total this year to 17,000 jobs, providing a more positive outlook for the job market than was apparent earlier in the year. However, it is still well below the six-month total for last year.

The state added 9,600 private sector jobs and lost 1,400 government jobs in June, according to the monthly report published Thursday from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The jobless rate fell to 6.6 percent from 6.8 percent.

The state's monthly job increase, of about 0.21 percent, was proportionately the same as the national increase in May, when the nation added 288,000 jobs.

But the state employment increase of 0.43 percent since January was well below the national gain of just over 1 percent. Likewise, the state jobless rate, although the lowest since November 2008, is still above the national rate of 6.1 percent. And the increase of 17,000 jobs was well below the 28,600 added from January to June in 2013.

Still, the state's job figures for June, and revisions that changed a loss of 1,500 to a gain of the same amount, were seen by analysts as a step forward.

"This report is a nice start to the summer," said Joseph Seneca, a Rutgers University economist, adding that both the employment figures and jobless rate suggest an improving labor market. "This represents a significant improvement from the sluggish winter."

Charles Steindel, chief economist for the state Department of Treasury, called it "a very encouraging report."

"Private-sector employment has recovered from December's drop," he said, referring to a loss of 19,100 jobs in that month.

Whether the June employment uptick reflects a strengthening economy, or is just another sign of month-to-month volatility, will become clear in coming months. The job market is likely to be strained, however, if the downward trajectory of the state's casino industry continues — as it is expected to in the face of competition from casinos in other states.

Three casinos — Revel, Trump Plaza and the Showboat — are near to shutting down, which would leave more than 6,000 workers jobless, following the closure of the Atlantic Club in January, at a cost of 1,600 jobs.

Patrick O'Keefe, director of economic research at CohnReznick in Roseland, said the state's third consecutive monthly increase was certainly good, albeit modest, news.